Attendees of the Malcolm Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium Tuesday afternoon witnessed a tradition quite unlike most of the colloquium’s sessions. Community members and students sat in a circle on the Haddock Performance Hall stage as they watched members of the faculty ensemble The Palouse Jazz Project perform.
According to colloquium organizer and professor Kenton Bird, the tradition started when the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival kicked the colloquium out of their usual spot in the commons. Instead of simply cancelling the colloquium for the week, the organizers decided to take advantage of the opportunity to use another space.
“(This tradition) originally came about when the jazz festival was four days long and we couldn’t get a room in the commons on the Tuesday preceding the festival,” Bird said.
The goal of this interactive session is to prepare the community for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, which will occur this Friday and Saturday. Professor Daniel Bukvich, percussionist for The Palouse Jazz Project and co-host of the Colloquium, said that although the festival is exciting, sometimes community members have questions they would like to have answered. This allows them to learn about the inner workings of jazz and what to listen for before the upcoming jazz fest concerts.
“I think they should appreciate whatever they appreciate and have a good time doing it,” Bukvich said. “I will say in this setting, with people so close, it’s super fun to be able to turn around and talk to people.”
The Palouse Jazz Project members answered audience questions about jazz in between each piece they played. There was no speech or set of prepared PowerPoint slides, unlike many other presentations at the Colloquium. In the spirit of jazz, the session played out like a conversation.
“I think that of the things that I’ve been blessed to do, my ability to enjoy and perform jazz is something that has brought me a really high level of fulfillment all through my life,” said Dave Bjur, a member of the Palouse Jazz Project. “I look forward to doing it the rest of my life. Working with this group of people for the last ten years has been a very significant part of that.”
Vern Sielert, artistic director of the jazz festival, facilitated the conversations in between playing his trumpet. Beside him, Vanessa Sielert played saxophone. Kate Skinner and Bjur played piano and bass, respectively, while Bukvich answered questions from the audience members beside him between drum solos.
At the end of the session, Vern Sielert gave advice on what to look forward to during the festival. According to him, there will be a presentation at Thursday night’s wind ensemble, orchestra and chamber music concert that will explain the impact of UI becoming a Grammy Museum Affiliate. Friday night, jazz choir and jazz band will perform with guests. Saturday night, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra from New York City and the New Lionel Hampton Big Band will perform.
“The school of music is always open,” Bukvich said. “Everybody is welcome, even at rehearsals. People don’t realize that sometimes rehearsals are more fun than concerts. We typically have an open rehearsal type of policy, so if you’re hanging around during the day, especially in the afternoons, there’s always something interesting going on in the school of music.”
For more information about the jazz festival, visit www.uidaho.edu/class/jazzfest or call the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Office at (208)-885-5900. To buy tickets, call (208)-885-7212 or visit the online University of Idaho ticket office.
The next session for the Malcolm Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium is “Gut Feelings: How Many Brains do you Actually Have?” The presentation will be given by a UI Graduate student studying neuroscience and will take place 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26 in the Idaho Commons Whitewater room.